A joint Lebanese-Syrian technical team will start rehabilitating the Lebanese and Syrian sections of the Iraqi oil pipeline in January, the Daily Star reported.
The Lebanese Water and Energy Minister Mohammed Abdel-Hamid Beydoun was quoted by the daily as saying that Syria has agreed to supply Lebanon with natural gas in 2002 through a 50-kilometer pipeline.
The gas pipeline, which will run from Telkah in Syria to Deir Ammar in north Lebanon, will cost $12 million-$15 million, according to the paper.
Experts believe that switching to cheaper natural gas will cut Lebanon’s energy bill by at least 30 percent. All electricity is now generated by imported oil, and Beirut wants to cut its annual energy bill, which reached $550 million in 1999 -- Albawaba.com
© 2000 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
